Cotton On Group is an Australian retail company known for its

fashion Fashion is a term used interchangeably to describe the creation of clothing, footwear, Fashion accessory, accessories, cosmetics, and jewellery of different cultural aesthetics and their mix and match into Clothing, outfits that depict distinct ...

, clothing and stationery brands. As of 2020, it has over 1,500 stores in 18 countries employing 22,000 people across eight brands: Cotton On, Cotton On Kids, Cotton On Body, Factorie, Typo, Rubi, Supré, Ceres and Cotton On Foundation. The design team in the company's Australian office, control the steps of production from merchandise planning to establishing specifications, and production is outsourced to approximately 850 suppliers and factories globally. Cotton On Group sources its materials and products from a number of locations worldwide with the majority of its suppliers being located in China, Bangladesh, India and Australia. It also works with suppliers in Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, the United States and other parts of Asia. These facilities are used for horizontal division of labour, rather than being integrated. Cotton On is a main sponsor of the

Geelong Football Club The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed the Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club based at Kardinia Park in South Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier comp ...

in the

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

as well as the

AFL Women's AFL Women's (AFLW) is Australia's national semi-professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football competition for women's Australian rules football, female players. The 2017 AFL Women's season, first season of the l ...

league for female players.

History

1990s

Cotton On was founded by Nigel Austin in 1991, with the first store being opened in

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

, Australia.

2000s

Cotton On Kids launched in 2004. It was followed by Cotton On Body, Factorie and Typo in 2007, and Rubi in 2008. In 2013, Cotton On acquired Australian female youth brand Supré. Cotton On expanded internationally in 2006, with the opening of its first New Zealand store at Queensgate Shopping Centre, Lower Hutt. It now operates in 19 countries.

2010s

In December 2012 Cotton On was fined $1 million for selling highly flammable children's sleepwear misleadingly labeled as ''low fire danger''. The discount clothing retailer, which has more than 900 outlets across the country, was fined $400,000 for selling more than 1000 nightdresses that breached Australian fire safety standards, and a further $400,000 for selling more than 1000 unsafe pairs of girls' pajamas, between September and December 2010. It was fined a further $200,000 for false and misleading labels on both sets of clothing items which claimed they were ''low fire danger''. In October 2016, Cotton On Group signed a 3-year contract with the

League to be the exclusive

uniform A uniform is a variety of costume worn by members of an organization while usually participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are most often worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency serv ...

supplier for all its teams.Cotton On in major AFL women’s deal
by Tom Lloyd on Sports Media, 10 Nov 2016
by Katie Low, 7 Mar 2017 In February 2019, Cotton On began selling sex toys on its Australian and New Zealand websites with a content warning. In July 2019, ''

Four Corners Four Corners is a region of the Southwestern United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona, and northwestern corner of New Mexico. Most of the Four Corners regio ...

'' reported Cotton On and several other Australian brands sourced cotton from Xinjiang, and that evidence linked the cotton to

forced labour camps A labor camp (or labour camp, see spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons (especi ...

. Cotton On ran an internal investigation, and in October 2019, announced it had stopped buying cotton from Xinjiang over concerns of abuse of human rights.

Brands

Cotton On

Cotton On is the main brand of the Cotton On Group. It dates its origins back to Nigel Austin's first

denim Denim is a sturdy cotton warp-faced textile in which the weft passes under two or more Warp (weaving), warp threads. This twill weave produces a diagonal ribbing that distinguishes it from cotton duck. Denim, as it is recognized today, was f ...

jacket sale in 1988. The first Cotton On branded store opened three years later.

Cotton On Kids

Cotton On Kids was launched in 2004, selling

children's clothing Children's clothing or kids' clothing is clothing for children who have not yet grown to full height. Children's clothing is often more casual clothing, casual than adult clothing, fit for Play (activity), play and rest. In the early 21st centu ...

baby clothing Infant clothing or baby clothing is clothing made for infants. Baby fashion is a social-cultural consumerist practice that encodes in children's fashion the representation of many social features and depicts a system characterized by differences ...

activewear Sportswear or activewear is athletic clothing, including footwear, worn for sports activity or physical exercise. Sport-specific clothing is worn for most sports and physical exercise, for practical, comfort or safety reasons. Typical spor ...

, dress-ups,

fashion accessories In fashion, an accessory is an item used to contribute, in a secondary manner, to an individual's outfit. Accessories are often chosen to complete an outfit and complement the wearer's look. They have the capacity to further express an individua ...

swimwear A swimsuit is an item of clothing designed to be worn by people engaging in a water-based activity or water sports, such as swimming, diving and surfing, or sun-orientated activities, such as sun bathing. Different types and styles may be worn ...

gifts A gift or present is an item given to someone (who is not already the owner) without the expectation of payment or anything in return. Although gift-giving might involve an expectation of reciprocity, a gift is intended to be free. In many cou ...

, shoes and

stationery Stationery refers to writing materials, including cut paper, envelopes, continuous form paper, and other office supplies. Stationery usually specifies materials to be written on by hand (e.g., letter paper) or by equipment such as computer p ...

. In March 2013 it launched a Free by Cotton On range for 9 to 14-year-olds. Free by Cotton On has since been discontinued and was replaced by Cotton On Kids Youth in 2020 which, instead of being an entirely separate range to Cotton On Kids, now offers the same Cotton On Kids items to customers in larger sizes (up to a size 16 in Girls and 20 in Boys).

Cotton On Body

Cotton On Body was launched in 2007, selling

underwear Underwear, underclothing, or undergarments are items of clothing worn beneath outer clothes, usually in direct contact with the skin, although they may comprise more than a single layer. They serve to keep outer clothing from being soiled ...

and

sleepwear Nightwear – also called sleepwear, or nightclothes – is clothing designed to be worn while sleeping. The style of nightwear worn may vary with the seasons, with warmer styles being worn in colder conditions and vice versa. Some styles ...

. It later expanded into swimwear and activewear.

Factorie

Factorie is a youth fashion brand which was added to the Cotton On Group in 2007. It has since expanded internationally, and now has more than 160 stores across Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

Rubi

Rubi is a footwear and accessories brand launched in 2008.

Typo

Typo is a stationery brand with stores in Australia, Asia, New Zealand, the United States, the UK and South Africa. In the UK,

ASOS ASOS or Asos may refer to: * Asos, a village in Greece * ASOS (retailer), a UK online fashion store * '' A Storm of Swords'', a book in the ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' saga by G. R. R. Martin * Action short of strike, industrial action undertake ...

and

WHSmith WH Smith plc, trading as WHSmith (also written WH Smith and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son), is a British retailer, with headquarters in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of railway station, airport, port, hospital and motorway service s ...

also stock select Typo products.

Supré

Supré was established in 1984, selling clothing for young women. It became part of the Cotton On Group in 2013, and had more than 1,000 workers across more than 100 retail stores in Australia and New Zealand at its peak. All Supré stores in NZ had been closed by 2020.

Lost

Cotton On Lost was launched in late 2018, but has since been phased out. The range included travel luggage and accessories.

Ceres Life

Ceres Life was launched in April 2020. What started out as an R&D project, it has now cemented itself as Cotton On Group's eighth brand which is aimed at 30yo+ women with a major focus on environment and sustainability, where all items in the range are sourced from responsible fabrics including recycled materials, rescued fabrics and organically grown textiles as well as eco-certified or natural fibres.

Stores

As of January 2025 Cotton On has 1,298 stores globally.

Oceania

Cotton On has 670 stores in Oceania. * Australia (574) * New Zealand (96)

Africa and the Middle East

Cotton On has 136 stores in Africa and 29 stores in the Middle East. * Botswana (3) * Namibia (4) * Oman (1) * South Africa (129) * United Arab Emirates (28)

Americas

Cotton On has 210 stores in North America, and 28 stores in South America. * Brazil (27) * Canada (1) * United States (209) * Venezuela (1)

Asia

Cotton On has 205 stores in Asia. * Hong Kong (4) * Indonesia (36) * Malaysia (78) * Philippines (36) * Singapore (37) * Vietnam (14)

Europe

Cotton On has 20 stores in Europe. * United Kingdom (20)

Closed

Cotton On previously operated stores in Germany, Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Thailand.

Loyalty program

Cotton On's

loyalty program A loyalty program or rewards program is a marketing strategy designed to encourage customers to continue to shop at or use the services of one or more businesses associated with the program. Single-company vs. coalition programs Loyalty progr ...

, Cotton On Perks, has over 2.4 million members, making it one of the largest retail loyalty programs in Australia.

References

External links

* * {{Retailers in New Zealand Australian companies established in 1991 Retail companies established in 1991 Clothing brands of Australia Clothing retailers of Australia Companies based in Victoria (state) Holding companies of Australia Retail companies of Australia Sportswear brands 2020s fashion Cotton industry in Australia